Acts 11:1-18
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven.
At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
On the night in which Jesus was betrayed… the night of the Last Supper… Jesus gave his disciples a mandate to love one another. “As Jesus first loved us, we also should love one another.” Then, after the resurrection, Peter had this vision of a giant sheet filled with pulled pork barbeque, lobster, and shrimp cocktail dropping out of the sky. With that vision, and God’s message given to Peter… not once, not twice, but three times in order to get it through Peter’s thick skull, Peter finally understood the gift of God’s love… the love Jesus shared with the disciples at that last supper… that love was meant to be shared with ALL people and ALL means ALL.
These are really good lessons to talk about the love we are called to share with everyone. It isn’t just any sort of love. It’s the love that JESUS FIRST HAD FOR US! The danger we can run into with this love is to think it is limitless in every possible way. That’s easy to do because it IS limitless in that it is for everyone and ALL of creation. And it IS limitless in that it is given freely without conditions. But the love Jesus shares with us is not without healthy boundaries. It is not a love that is to be toxically given or received. Think back to when Jesus was crucified between two others. The one said to Jesus, “GET ME DOWN!” The other said, “Jesus, remember me.” I am certain Jesus loved them both, but one of them didn’t get what he wanted.
The love that we are mandated to pass on to the world is Christ’s love, and Christ’s love is not about abuse or manipulation. God is calling us to roll out the red carpet and welcome ALL people. God is NOT calling us to BECOME the carpet. God calls us to PUT OUT the welcome mat for ALL PEOPLE, but not BECOME a door mat for God’s sake. Christ’s love certainly transforms us… but not into something to be walked on or demeaned. Christ’s love builds us up… it does not manipulate, blackmail or give ultimatums. Christ’s love… the love we are mandated to pass on, calls us to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God. It calls us to DO what is in the other’s best interest, even when what is in the other’s best interest is not what they might be looking for.
Imagine a guy came by the church. Jean says hello and he tells her that he’s looking for a new place to cook meth and our kitchen would be perfect! It is REALLY what he wants! For him, it feels like a life or death thing. It’s not a want for him… it’s a NEED! He said if we loved him, we’d let him do what he wanted! He’s read our official Welcoming Statement! We’re supposed to be welcoming to EVERYONE! Right!? He said we should be willing to sacrifice like Jesus did, and give him what he needed, no matter the cost to us… or to him…. and he REALLY needed more meth!
Like I said, that’s an imaginary scenario. But just as Jesus himself said “no” to the thief on the cross who wanted to manipulate Jesus into magic-ing him down. We too are allowed to say “NO” when “NO” is what is in the other’s best interest… when “NO” means doing what is best for the individual and the community… whether the other likes it or not. Like I said, God is calling us to roll out the red carpet, not to BECOME the carpet. God is calling us to put out the welcome mat, not BE a door mat. Christ’s love doesn’t just get by on healthy boundaries, it insists upon them!
Christ’s love also comes to us in a very particular way. It was not a mistake that Jesus gave that mandate with all the disciples gathered together, because God’s love comes to us in community and through relationships. The Church isn’t just a Faith-Filling-Station where some guy in a dress, fills up your tank as you drive through on Sunday morning. The Church is meant to be a full time community, created by the Spirit, filled with regular people just like you and me who live together in good times and in bad times, BOTH giving AND receiving from one another, as each of us has need. Sometimes we’re the one to help someone up and sometimes we’re the one who needs a lift. It is received and given in community and you can’t just wave a wand and conjure up a loving, caring, community at the moment tragedy strikes. I’ve seen folks try to do that and it just doesn’t work as well as when folks take the time to build a loving community, giving and receiving from one another in the small things so that they will be ready when the big tragic things come as well.
These lessons show us the power of God’s love. They show us the power of coming together when things are good and when things are hard, because together we all take our turn at needing to receive the love of Christ from this community and we’ll all also have other times when it will inevitably be someone else that morning who needs a measure of Christ’s love that only you are in a position to give as part of our community. That’s why we’re here. To constantly receive God’s love and build, nurture and grow a loving, inclusive, caring community, ready to both give and receive the love of Christ that we have first been given. So keep up the good work! And since, at least by my reading of our “God’s love fuel tank”, we’ve got a generous supply here in our little community, I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to take some of what we’ve been given outside and share it with the world. God knows, the world needs it! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment